Intermediate/advanced surfer - around 4+ yrs of experience. Conditions generally choppy water and not too much slalom stuff, really looking for something to power up a 7.5m and go in a straight line. Any recs/advice welcome! Thank you!

I don't think that I'm far off the map saying that your choices follow either with the Aluminum or Carbon path. I'm a carbon guy, but that might not necessary suggest that would be best for you. Generally though, the bigger the sail, the more carbon booms make the most sense, particularly when it comes to longevity and stiffness. If you sail in salt water, carbon is the way to go.

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22 years windsurfing, big guy, 6'4" + 208 lbs. IMHO, anything over 7m needs cambers and a carbon boom. You start stretching an aluminum boom out to 7m or bigger, you're going to have flexibility problems. "Problems" meaning that when you flex a boom outward at the harness lines, it gets shorter end to end. Not rocket science. If your boom gets shorter, your outhaul setting decreases, increasing the draft and giving the sail more power --- right when a gust is hitting you. Bad combo.

Aluminum also gets fatigued fairly easily, so the increased flexibility speeds up the snapping process. I have carbon booms that I've dangled my fatass off of for 12-15 years and more, so it's a good long-term investment. I have several brands, all good, although I really like my Chinook the best.

Seriously, get at least one carbon boom for your larger sails. Buy it so it's shortest setting works on your 6.5 or 7.0, that way it will fit larger sails too. It will feel better, too, although that's kind of intangible._________________Spennie the Wind Junkie
www.WindJunkie.net

Folks have very good reasons for using carbon that go back 10 to 15 years. Each year new innovations bring alu booms new stiffness and longevity. My monocoque Aeron alums are 8 years old and get 10 months a year wave usage, in salt, never rinsed.
Those who try them are surprised how light and stiff they are.
We sold hundreds of them, sometimes to folks who brought in carbon booms hoping they could be repaired since they cost $500 to $700 and we sold Aeron HPL aluminums for $165.
Pick a Alum monocoque Chinook off the shelf and try to spread the arms, then do the same with a carbon Chinook. This is an inexact test but if there is a reason to pay three times as much, seems like you would feel a little something.
With all due respect I have never never spoken to a client who was sure carbon was worth it because they had a new monocoque in their quiver they were comparing.
Those I speak to who are sure, all seemed to have formed that opinion based on tech from long ago.

Those Aerons look very good, I've considered them myself in the smaller sizes, but am sticking with my contention that on big sails (the O.P. was talking about a 7.5), carbon is the way to go.

My 8.2 racing sail has a boom length of 209cm, and I weigh 208 right now. Aluminum boom? Don't think so. If aluminum was really as strong as carbon they wouldn't lay up giant sheets to make fighter jet wings, they'd use less expensive aluminum.

As for being worth it, that's up to the individual sailor. I strongly believe it is, in the larger sizes.

Pick a Alum monocoque Chinook off the shelf and try to spread the arms, then do the same with a carbon Chinook. This is an inexact test but if there is a reason to pay three times as much, seems like you would feel a little something.

Good point. But I would be more interested if you did that test 1 year later, much less 3 or more years later, especially on large sails. I'm guessing that even on small wave sails there will be a difference over time.

To be fair about things, I quit using aluminum booms back in 1992. I broke every one of them over time at the front end or at the connections. For me the final draw was breaking 6 Windsurfing Hawaii aluminum front ends in 1992. After that I started using the older design Gulftech carbon booms that were made in Texas. I loved those booms, but I broke nearly every one because they had aluminum inside the front end component. Over and over again aluminum has proven itself to be so subject to repeated stress and corrosion. While I'm not a big person, I do have this knack for breaking booms. I've even broken a 100% carbon boom too, but it took 5 years to do it. The HPL and Maui Sails carbon booms I have now are holding up very well, and after retrofitting the HPL with the MS front end, it performs better than when I bought it new in 2004. Also, I still have one of the old Gulftech carbon booms with the aluminum in the front end for my two smallest sails. Although it's old, I'm optimistic that it will live forever because it doesn't really see as much use yearly.

However, despite my prejudices, I have to say that keycocker brings up a noteworthy point about the evolution of aluminum booms to the current monocoque designs. I have no doubt that they are now far stiffer overall, particularly when used with smaller sails, and arguably less subject to salt water intrusion through the front end like older style aluminum booms. Yet, when it comes to larger sails, I'm of the view that aluminum still lacks the stiffness, to include its susceptibility to fatigue, to equal carbon. No doubt though, the benefits of carbon come at a steep price. So for someone who is price conscious and traditionally not too tough on booms, the newer monocoque aluminum would be a good choice for smaller sails. Maybe they might even be satisfactory with sails 7.0 and up. I guess we need some added input from those who can make that case.

Lastly, would I ever buy an aluminum boom? Quite honestly, no. I can afford to go the premium route, and I can see no reason to take any chances. It's one of those areas where the motto that "you get what you paid for" rings true to me.

liked the feel of the north oval shaped alu booms, every one(3) exploded unexpectedly after one year of use in salt water from inside corrosion not at all detectable by outside inspection, will never buy alu in any size again.

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